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A pensioner with Alzheimer's was locked in a charity minibus for three hours after the driver went home for the weekend having forgotten about her .

The family of grandmother Beryl Harris, 87, fear she could have died after she was abandoned in the Age UK bus having fallen asleep.

Beryl was left behind by the driver, who forgot to take her home before returning the vehicle to a centre run by the charity on a Friday night.

He locked up and left, leading the pensioner's family to conduct a desperate search for her. She was eventually found by Age UK staff, who Ms Harris' relatives say joked about the ordeal, insisting she must have gone for a nap.

Granddaughter Gemma Cunningham has questioned why the driver was not sacked, after she launched the frantic search party at about 7pm that evening when carers who visited Beryl got no answer at her flat in Sheppey, Kent.

Relatives were initially told everyone on the bus had been dropped off at home - but it emerged Beryl was left in the van from about 3.45pm until 7.30pm.

Ms Cunningham, 34, said: "I got a phone call to say the carers could not get in. I went down there and realised nan wasn't there. We thought she had gone walkabout or something."

She said calls to Age UK went unanswered but she used a private number to contact a staff member.